Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians, the two names that have dominated the Indian Premier League with seven titles to their name. Before the 2019 final both the teams were tied at three titles each, Mumbai Indians winning the thrilling finals by 1 run meant that they ended up with four titles making them the most successful team in the IPL.
The rivalry of the two have become of the most watched in the history of the sport and sometimes even compared to the El classico and Ashes. The teams back up the credits very well as on most occasions the teams end up with a difference of few runs separating them.
As the IPL schedule is released by the BCCI after a lot of speculations, the much awaited CSK vs MI opener is now just a few days away. While the sport of cricket was all dried up due to the ongoing pandemic. The IPL could prove to be an icebreaker for the fans.
Cricwizz takes a look into the Top 3 encounters between the two most successful teams in the history of the tournament.
1) IPL 2019 final (Mumbai Indians winning by 1 run)
Considered one of the best finals ever to be played in the history of the sport and undoubtedly the best IPL finals ever seen. This much was not for the faintest of the hearts. The much was a roller-coaster for the respective fans with chances wide open till the very last ball. Mumbai Indians won the toss elected to bat first at Hyderabad(Deccan) where the pitch was a bit on the slower side.
With not many of the Mumbai Indians batsmen clicking, Kieron Pollard’s well paced innings of 41 meant MI reached a fighting score of 149, which given that it was the finals would add extra pressure on the chasing teams. Though given the standards of the CSK batsmen the score seemed chaseable.
The chase began with Shane Watson playing some stunning shots in the powerplay and at the end of the powerplay, CSK were well poised to win the game. But the failure of the middle-order began with Suresh Raina being dismissed at 8 by Chahar. It was then back to back wickets for MI which put them in the driver's seat. The CSK captain MS Dhoni was dismissed in an uncharacteristic run-out for 2 which meant the Australian hard-hitter Shane Watson had to take CSK home.
Watson tried his best and gave it all but eventually 1 run meant too many for the CSK and MI ended up claiming the record 4th title.
2) Dwayne Smith does it for MI
The IPL 2012 witnessed one of the closest finishes in the points table. In what was one of the must win games for MI to stay alive in the tournament. Chennai Super Kings were put into bat and scored a above par score of 178 in their 20 overs. In reply Mumbai Indians had a shaky start but the Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar and Rohit Sharma steadied the ship with a 126- run partnership.
After the dismissal of Sachin Tendulkar, MI collapsed like a deck of cards losing 6 wickets in the span of 3 overs. The game was almost sealed in the favour of CSK with MI needing 14 runs of the last 3 balls. But the West Indian flamboyant Batsman had different plans. With Ben Hilfenhaus missing the yorkers, Smith took full advantage of the error and managed to clear the fence on two occasions and one just short of the fence. Giving Mumbai Indians the match out of nowhere and making the match one of the most thrilling matches ever in the history of the tournament.
3) The farewell ( Pollard’s catch that sealed ;the game)
2013 will be remembered as the year in which Mumbai Indians won their first IPL title and also the farewell year of the cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar. Though the final was dominated by the Mumbai Indians, the first encounter between the two sides in 2013 was a thriller.
Put into bat, Mumbai Indians scored 148 runs with Pollard playing a sensible knock of 57 of 38 balls, the same as they defended in the finals of the 2013 final. The score looked easily chaseable given the standard of the CSK batsman but they made a mess of it by losing 5 wickets for a mere 66 runs.
It was down to the former Indian captain MS Dhoni to take the team over the line. It looked like Dhoni was doing his usual last over magic by bringing it down 11 of the final over. The game was now set to Dhoni to do the finishing formalities.
Munaf Patel was to ball the final over and the first ball was flicked hard by Dhoni and looked like it was going for the maximum until the super Pollard decided to pluck the ball out of thin air which dismissed the captain and also marked the catch of the season. MI ended up on the winning side by 9 runs.
Cover Credits: CricketCountry
